The Caretaker
by Shadenight123
Summary: Naruto started living alone at four. From there, the need for a Caretaker. Little did he know that Slive, the teenager in charge, wasn't just any normal caretaker. No, he was a planeswalker, a living being that in death awoke the spark of Godhood. Problem being Slive comes from the world outside, and he is the Sliver's Legion...nothing's ever simple. Magic the Gathering crossover.
1. The Caretaker

The Caretaker

Naruto Uzumaki was four, when someone settled in the apartment right next to him. That obvious and quiet attempt of stuff translocation was bizarre. Usually people left the apartment complex, not came to live in it. He didn't know _why_, but he was pretty sure someone would soon explain said strange event.

True to his thoughts, his Jiji, the Sandaime Hokage, came right up to him the following day. The old man was followed by what seemed like a teenager, with dark brown hair cut short and a pair of hazel eyes. He was wearing a light blue jacket and a pair of long blue jeans. He clearly wasn't a shinobi, nor did he seem to hold a look so familiar on other people. If anything, he was actually trying to make a smile.

"Naruto-kun," the Hokage spoke with a small smile, "we need to talk for a while. Is that fine with you?"

The boy nodded, his blue eyes turning quickly as he spun his body for the table, and a chair. The old man might need to sit down after all: he was old!

"Hey Jiji, who's the man!? You said I could live alone now!" There was a slight frown now, on Naruto's face, which quickly went away when the teenager chuckled, replaced by puzzlement. Usually people would yell at him for being familiar with the Hokage, not chuckle.

"Naruto-kun, you must realize I can't simply leave you alone…there are a lot of things you might not be able to do…like going shopping, or paying bills, or handling money." The boy made a strange frowning face once more, not understanding half of it.

"Cinema requires an adult or someone of age twelve and above for a four year old to enter," the teenager suggested, "and you can't cook, I suppose…right?"

"Even then, Jiji! You promised!" At that, the Hokage raised his hands, before replying.

"And I don't go back on my words. He will not live with you, but next to you. If you need help, he'll be there for you. If you're hurt, and in the hospital," there was a 'tsk'. The problem was that it came from the teenager and the kid at the same time, making the Hokage wince slightly.

"As I was saying, if you end up in trouble," twin snickers, once more the Hokage was trying to come to terms with what was happening, "there will be someone there for you... alright?"

"Whatever," Naruto deadpanned. It wasn't like he was forced to follow his words, right? And if the man sucked, he could always whine to Jiji about having him move out. Not that he actually would go that far though…he didn't want to cause trouble, but still…

"You've not told me his name yet!"

"Well, I'll let him do the presentations." The Sandaime moved to the window, to light his own pipe. He was starting to get old, and after what he had heard…he just kind of wondered when he'd get the chance to rest.

"My name is Slive," the teenager said, making a mock bowing motion, "And I'm your caretaker starting today. I hope we'll get along well."

Naruto eyed him warily. There wasn't the fake smile of the cruel kids or some of the adults, and there wasn't the disgust. It was just the normal tension of hoping to make a good impression coupled with…concern?

At least, Naruto thought it was concern. Just because he was smarter than most kids, it didn't mean he knew all the words!

"Only that? Slive? No surname or things like that?"

"Things like that?" The boy raised an eyebrow, "There's something other than a surname?"

"A…dunno, clan name stuff? A title? Like Jiji! He's the 'Kami of Shinobi'!"

"Ah…I got it!" Slive nodded, "Well, I do have a couple…"

"A couple? Like two right? The number after one! Jiji has two too you know? Two too…tw…" as the assonance of the words made Naruto start mulling his tongue over it, Hiruzen merely eyed with a puzzled expression the boy. That was going well for the moment.

"Yes."

"And what are they? Are they better than Jiji's 'professor' or are they dumb?"

Slive chuckled, and shook his head. He hadn't actually moved from the spot in the entrance of the kitchen, and because of that, he was closer to the exit. The door had been closed, but the keen hearing of the Sandaime had already picked up slight scratching noises, the type made by those who etch stuff on wooden walls.

A sharp shriek, a set of loud wails, and then silence entombed the premises.

"What was that?" Naruto queried, his eyes opening in shock. Was that a ghost?

"Oh…nothing," Slive merely shook his head, mumbling, "Trespassers."

Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, before taking a deep puff and then sighing.

"Taken care of?"

"Of course."

"Hey! What happened!? More details guys!" The kid whined, only to have something that resembled a pot shoved in his arms.

"Meat stew," the two words came straight out of Slive's mouth, the problem was that the pot had appeared from nowhere. Just where did the man keep that thing?

"Ehm…aren't you going a bit fast?" Hiruzen's question hung in the air, as Naruto dashed straight for the plates and to turn on the fire to warm the food. Screaming all the way with joy about having stew…meat stew.

The only reply was a chuckle, and obviously the Sandaime groaned. Why did he keep having doubts? On the plus side, now Naruto was safe: safer than ever truly, if the boy or man was to be believed.

"Jiji, are you staying for lunch!?" Naruto was practically begging the old man using his famed giant eyes of puppy cuteness. Hiruzen closed his eyes. He had paperwork, mountains of paperwork to do and he…

"Kage Bunshins," the two words came from Slive, who rolled his eyes, "Just use a Kage Bunshin."

"That…Oh Kami…that's right!"

The next moment, a Hiruzen stood in his casual clothes, while another was wearing his Kage robes and heading out, grumbling something about meat stew and 'it better be worth it'.

As they all sat down to eat once the stew was cooked, courtesy of the teenager's keen eye and decision to take it upon himself to finish stewing the meat, Naruto closed his eyes.

Well, maybe he could trust the 'caretaker'. He had helped Jiji, so that meant he…he could be trusted?

He'd decide over the next days. Till then, he took his fill of meat, wondering just how much it had to have cost, and swearing he'd be the best neighbor ever, if it meant eating more meat like that.

"Did he just fall asleep?" The Sandaime's question came in a low murmur, as he was eying the blond haired boy who was dozing off, one side of his face resting against the wood surface of the table.

"It seems he has," Slive replied, standing up quietly, and gently grabbing the boy with minimum fussing, before moving towards the kid's room. Hiruzen followed in silence, putting up a smile at the sight.

"Just have to ask…are you really sure…he's one of your _kind_?" the whisper was answered with silence, at first, before a heartfelt sigh came back.

"We feel each other…I'm sure. The _spark_ is there." Tucking the boy in, Slive moved out, closing the door of the boy's room behind him, the Sandaime in the hallway.

Something slithered down from the teenager's jacket, entering the room before it could be closed. Hiruzen moved or tried to, but the look of Slive, followed by him quickly shaking his head, meant that it was normal.

"I'm leaving a guard with him…he won't see him."

"I…I see." The Sandaime moved to leave, but just as he opened the door, and moved in the doorway, he turned back, to stare hard at the teenager.

"I just want him to have a normal childhood. He's like a grandson to me. If you can avoid him pain…then do so."

"Of course! I'm not going to make him one of us soon. He can live as long as he wishes…but I'm not the only one of _us_. I'll protect him from the others, but it might turn bad eventually, and when that time comes…" It made Slive angry, to be considered

"I know…just…Kami be damned…" and with that curse to god, the Sandaime left the teenager in the hallway, the apartment's door closing behind him.

A small pitiful whine came from right next to Slive's right leg, making the sixteen years old lower his gaze on the strange creature.

It held what seemed like a sharp conical face, prolonged like a nail but without a mouth. Tendrils erupted from the back of his humanoid body, albeit his general size wasn't more than that of a large dog. He had some sort of fleshy ribcage that breathed in and out oxygen, and yet he stood half transparent, seemingly invisible. His right limb was protruding with some sort of osseous claw devoid of other appendages. It hummed: quiet shrieking noises barely considerable as gurgles. It clawed softly on the ground, slithering like a snake, relaying his message to his master.

The master's answer was a mere nod, and the beast was gone just as it had appeared.

The first day was done, and the fact remained.

He was not alone, and he would let not another of his kin suffer the same fate as he had.

If he had to play the babysitter then he would, after all, when one has godhood flowing in one's own veins…what is there to fear?

**Author's notes**

**This is a 'drabble' of a plot bunny that entered my head and refused to disappear.**

**It is to be taken 'as is', meaning each chapter is probably self-completing. It won't have couples, and should pretty much narrate a Naruto universe with the 'Caretaker' added.**

**(Who's the caretaker? Find out!)**

**((Really, don't expect this story to be updated ever so soon. (Or maybe it actually will, since I'm writing little for each chapter.) Seriously though, this is a 'drabble'. No high hopes. I really don't want to smash them down by not completing it, so truly, take it as a collection of drabbles on Naruto and 'other universe' together.))**

**Cookie points for who guesses the crossed over universe, what the caretaker is, and what… 'creatures' he commands. Last hint: The name is a nearly 99.999% giveaway. Just add a single letter of the alphabet (a consonant).**


	2. Morning with pancakes and gifts

The Caretaker 2

The grumbling of his stomach woke him up; that and the strange syrupy smell that seemed to come from his door. Rather, to be more precise, from beyond the door of his bedroom. He stood quietly in his bed for a moment more, breathing slowly. Was someone cooking something good somewhere else? The window of his room was closed though. Did the smell come from outside then? A quick scuttle came to his ears, the door opened and closed with a strange speed, a small blur of _something_ dashing quickly through. Strangely, Naruto wasn't scared. He thought more on the lines of a squirrel with a caffeine overdose.

He blinked once more, hearing a chuckle coming from the kitchen. Well, someone was in his house alright. His apartment had been invaded. He had to defend it! Slowly, he crept out of his bed sheets, going on all fours like a cat prowling on the rooftops. He looked around, searching for a weapon, anything he could use and brandish. He should ask his Jiji to get him some kunais: he had to defend himself!

He decided to grab a pillow: at least it would provide some sort of fluffy protection. Naruto's next move was to open the door and freeze, sniffing the air once more. He just had to get to the end of the hallway, turn right, and he'd be in the kitchen. In the kitchen where someone was frying stuff, cooking stuff, humming and making jokes.

"And then she said 'No, I am not an elf, I'm a…drow.' To which I replied 'A draw? You're a sure win to me girl!'" Another chuckle, "Yes, she did slap me so hard I forgot what side of Material plane was up and what side was down, but it doesn't matter. It was a long time ago."

"Nah, I did hit it off with a half-elf once. Then, obviously, she had to be an assassin and had to silence me. Yeah, that's where Basil came from. Don't look at me like that! He's a good guy, once you get him to stop emo-ing!"

"Good…morning?" Naruto peeked from the hallway into the kitchen, and stared, hard and long, at the teenager from the day before. Just then he recalled that the boy was someone that Jiji trusted, and that had been tasked with taking care of him. Yet he didn't live there, but next door. Did he come in to cook him breakfast?

Pushing apart potential madness issues, because pancakes were pancakes, Naruto stopped at the sight of a light flash.

"Hey!" Slive had taken a picture with a digital camera, and was chuckling to himself shaking his head.

"Just…cute! I'm going to fill the picture album with this!" The photo was quite actually the pinnacle of possible cuteness: four year old blond boy, with bright blue eyes, holding a pillow with his right hand and a sleepy face on. It screamed 'Kawaii' till the other side of the village.

"I'm not cute!" Naruto yelled back, "I'm going to become Hokage like Jiji!"

"Hokages can't be cute?" Slive shot straight back, stopping Naruto on his ranting track. That was actually a record, since it usually should have gone with him disproving the theory of the blond becoming Hokage, or saying how it was impossible, improbable, difficult…heck, anything but simply gliding it aside!

"Well…they can, but I'm going to be badass!"

"I'm sure you will," Slive's reply had no traces of sarcasm. That froze Naruto from actually digging into the plate of pancakes that had been set straight in front of him. There was butter, syrup and everything…nice, and yet he was standing there, looking at the teenager like he was some sort of alien.

"Okay…I'm not stupid. Who are you?"

"Slive, we already went through the name thing," the boy retorted. His jacket was unzipped, and stood carefully folded on a nearby chair, leaving him in a black t-shirt that seemed to hold some sort of iron gothic cross with a green background behind.

"No, really…you…you think I can become Hokage?" The question was laid there, unsure, as the boy merely chuckled once more.

"Of course," the nod was serious too. Just who did Jiji choose?

That's when it hit him. It was obvious that if Jiji trusted the boy with _him_, then he had to be someone actually worthy of trust. A lot of people were trusted by the Sandaime, yet he always left him alone with the usual masked guys: Wolf, Cat and Dog. The others actually had to leave the rooms with him.

"So…you're not going to shoot it down?"

"Never." That actually closed the discussion, because that single word held a finality that was on par with the Sandaime's denial of doing paperwork.

"Ehm…you're not eating?" Naruto's question hung in the air, as he couldn't see the plate also for his caretaker in front of his own.

"I already ate: it's nine in the morning." Slive deadpanned, before turning to start cleaning the pans.

Silence fell in the room, the only noises were the cutlery moving in a sort of perilous way by the four years old hands and the teenager's scrubbing with the sponge to clean the dishes.

Then Slive turned and stared for a brief second. Naruto stopped moving and gulped heavily. So there was something bad with Slive. Was he going to…

"Put down the knife, slowly," the blond haired kid obeyed quickly, as his caretaker moved closer to him, relief washing over his face. Wait a moment, relief?

"Naruto," the boy began talking, "You don't use the knife to 'pierce' the food to eat it. You get hurt. You also don't lick the knife. You get hurt. The fork is there for that reason, okay?"

The cerulean eyes of the four years old opened in shock for a moment. So…there was really no trick? Was he seriously concerned about his wellbeing? He carefully grabbed fork and knife again, and this time grabbed the food with the correct tableware.

Slive smiled, ruffling the boy's head and making Naruto wince, before returning to washing dishes, humming a nice tune. Naruto was done eating a couple of minutes later, and was sporting a smile. One of those smiles that come from having an overdose of sugar in one's own body coupled with having a filled stomach.

"Do you have a pet, Slive?" Naruto had been curious about the 'hyperactive ball' that had walked out of his room, but he hadn't asked much more about it.

"I do not," the teenager replied, "but I do have brethren and friends."

"Oh…" so maybe he was kind of like those guys who considered their dogs their best friends, or things like that.

"What is breth…bret…brat…that word with ren!?"

"Brethren…family, close one, tied by something that runs deeper than mere knowing one another. Bonds that cannot be broken, strength that cannot be shattered as long as we are together…that's brethren…that's the _brood_." His voice was a bit far off, in the distance, before he shook his head and returned a smile to the boy.

"You and I, for example, are brethren. Kindred spirits, if you prefer."

Naruto inhaled sharply. If he kept the logic correctly, the boy in front of him was already considering him family. Him, a part of his family…A family that held more than one individual…A family that…would recognize him? Yet he knew him only for a single day! The teenager was far too expansive and…well, did it actually matter? He had someone else who saw him like family! He wanted to shout it to the world!

"So…Slive-Oniisan," there was no distaste in the boy's face, showing that he either like the word, or didn't give it much weight, "Where are they?"

"Next door." Slive deadpanned, before repressing the need to laugh out loud at the four years old shocked face. What did he expect: that they were in some place far away, eons and eons of distance, requiring to pass through intergalactical wormholes?

"Next…door?"

"You realize I live next door." Slive was doing his best right there and then not to start laughing at the various displays of emotions that moved through Naruto's face…

"Oh…OH!"

"Yes…O is one of the letters of the alphabet. It's a vocal. There's A, E, I, O and U. There's also Y too."

The four years old wanted to remark something, anything, instead he decided to stand up, and exclaim.

"I'm going out!"

"In your pajama?"

Stopping from reaching the door and blushing furiously, Slive heard the four years old run all the way back into his room, slam the door shut, and…

"WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES!?"

"And thus begins a new tale of Slive, and…explain to Naruto that no, orange is not an okay color."

The small beast on the window's still chuckled with his master, his consistence nothing more than mist, his appearance similar and yet different from the previous one. It seemed to have no eyes, and yet it moved nimbly, disappearing from view as Naruto stormed back in the kitchen, furious and with tears in his eyes.

"I…I trusted you!"

"Your clothes are getting washed," Slive stated, "You know: washing machines."

"…you actually convinced the machine to work?" Naruto stared back at the teenager in surprise. The apartment complex had a set of washing machines in the basement, but obviously with everyone leaving nobody was around to 'fix' them when they 'broke' up.

"I can be _very_ convincing." That…that closed the deal once more.

"What do I wear then?" The blond boy queried, "I don't have other clothes!"

"I know, lucky for you I did buy you something. Didn't know how you'd be in sizes though…"

And then Slive produced a package, a package that was _orange_. Inside was…an orange bundle of clothes _and_ pants.

It was _neon_ orange.

It was…wonderful.

"I LOVE YOU!" There, and the boy was bought for life. Hugging tightly with tears in his eyes Slive, the teenager rolled his eyes.

Naruto dashed to get the clothes on, and came back with a huge grin plastered on his face.

"So, how do I look?"

"Orange," Slive replied shaking his head.

"But…"

"Listen: you love orange?"

Naruto nodded.

"Then dress in orange. You're a kid: you can dress in orange for as long as you stay a kid. Enjoy life with what you love. You keep your own thoughts, and never let anyone else take over. I don't like orange." That deflated Naruto, but Slive wasn't finished.

"I don't like it, but if you want orange, then I'll help you buy orange. If you wanted Prussian blue, whatever that color is, or green and purple dots, then I'd help you with that. Don't dress in something you don't like to make someone else look at you with interest. Dress in what you like. Do what you like to do." Slive's voice became softer, as he continued to speak.

"Live without taking care of other's words, and one day you'll show them. So, still want to go out dressed like an orange neon lamppost? Because I'm able to find you in the crowd even if you were to wear camouflage…just so you know." The boy nodded numbly, before moving to leave, but stopping.

"You…aren't coming with me?"

"If you want," Slive smiled, "but then the clothes would get cranky when the washing machine finishes the cycle. Someone has to be there to keep it 'convinced'."

Naruto nodded, reaching for the door, but then stopped. A strange range of emotions came from his heart. Just where would he go if he went out? To the park? To get another set of angry stares at him? To hear their words behind his back? To get ignored? Why should he go outside? No matter how much he yelled or screamed, they ignored him. Here…here someone listened, and was there for him. No, he didn't want to go outside. He didn't want to go to those people. He was at home there…there was brethren.

"You know…I want to learn how to convince the washing machine too!" A quick smile and a happy chuckle later, and the two headed out together for the building's basement.

**Author's notes.**

**I'm keeping the rolling on the drabbles.**

**Sidenote: no, it's not D&D crossover. **

**It might appear from the reference but no. Sliver is correct, but not the film. (from there, the rest is easy)**


	3. Of washing machines and ice-creams

The Caretaker 3

The washing machine hummed to life. Two minutes passed with the sound of the clothes swooshing within its metallic belly, and then it stopped dead. Five seconds later, a small shriek came and it started again. The process kept repeating itself for a while, until the door of the basement opened, and the clattering of metal upon stone stopped abruptly.

Naruto walked hesitantly down, holding onto the hem of Slive's trousers when the man stopped at the last step. He was four years old. He lived alone. Yet he was afraid of the dark, obviously. The four year old looked at the lines of washing machines that stood idly in wait. None seemed to be moving, so maybe the washing had finished?

"You scared?" Slive queried, sporting a small grin at the blond kid, who looked up at him with a pout.

"Nu-uh!"

"Then you should let go of my leg, I need it to walk," the teenager replied with a light chuckle, before getting freed. He walked slowly towards the filled machine, and opened the glass panel. To Naruto, it was like staring at a man putting his head in the lion's jaws. What if the machine came to live and tried to attack Slive? Would he manage to defend himself in time?

It took him little to come to terms with the fact that the world wasn't out to kill him that particular day. In particular the washing machine wasn't going to hit him, or Slive. He was actually more worried about Slive. He was putting his hands in that thing!

"Did it spit on the clothes?" Naruto asked eying the thing warily, as he carefully moved to grab a hold of Slive's back. He would probably need back up if the thing started biting. It had no teeth, but her insides seemed kind of like the thing to grate cheese.

"It washed them, it's a washing machine," Slive replied, as he finished dropping the still wet clothes in a basket.

There was a small set of clicks, and the teenager tensed for a moment, before calming down again. He smiled at Naruto, starting to walk back up. The blond boy followed him quickly: he had no intention to discover what those clicks were. He could ask Slive, but he kind of wanted to leave the basement of metallic monsters first.

His description was spot-on, albeit for completely different reasons. As soon as the light went out, in the basement, small figures wobbling on tail like appendages rolled out. They had strange curved head carapaces that glimmered with a typical metallic tint. Their clicks and small shrieks echoed in the air for a moment, before a decision was taken: they had to get a new washing machine.

The apartment complex held an internal courtyard of no more than a couple of meters width and length. Normally, Slive or any other apartment owner would have to go back to their apartment, to lay the stuff to dry out. In this case however, since there was no-one except the two of them, it wasn't worth the effort.

He grabbed from some mysterious spot on his person a bundle of rope, and began tying the two extremities to the grates on the first floor's windows.

Naruto was kind of curious where he got all the stuff. Like the basket for the washing machine: it hadn't been there when they had descended in the basement of darkness! It seemed that whenever he wasn't looking, something popped out from Slive.

"Neh Slive-Oniisan, are you a Ninja?" The blue eyed boy asked, grabbing a hold of a towel and passing it to the teenager, who pulled it over the rope to let it dry.

"Nope."

"Then…how do you make stuff appear? The clothespin for example! Look, you did it again!" Truly, a wide trimmed hat had found its way on Naruto's head, to keep him out of the sun's rays.

"Well…I'm going to tell you a little secret," Slive whispered, in a conspiratorial tone as his eyes darted to the right and the left with exaggerated gestures and motions.

"But you can't tell anyone, okay?"

Naruto nodded eagerly. If he wasn't a ninja, how was he doing those things!?

"It's magic." As soon as he whispered that, the blond boy frowned.

"Magic doesn't exist Slive-Oniisan! Jutsus do!"

Slive's expression turned into one of disbelief.

"Jutsus don't exist, Naruto! Magic does!"

"No it doesn't!"

"Yes it does!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Yes!"  
"No!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Indeed, magic exists."

"Yeah…eh…huh…wait a moment…" as the blond boy frowned he was puzzled at the fact he had actually agreed on the existence of magic.

"Fine, if magic exists, prove it! Do something magic-like!"

Slive raised an eyebrow.

"Like what, for example?"

"Ehm…I don't know," Naruto retorted, "Something magical!"

"You're not helping much," Slive chuckled back, "for example, having all the clothes already drying?"

"Yea…huh!? We already put the washing on the line!?" The blond four years old looked with wonder at said feat. Maybe they kept on working while speaking and ranting, yet he hadn't realized it!

"Seems so! Then it is proven: magic exists!" Clapping his hands in satisfaction, Slive grabbed the basket, making it twirl in his hands. Naruto watched closely, waiting for it to disappear. A small cracking noise forced him to look behind, but as he saw nothing, he turned once more…to find the basket gone.

"See? Magic!"

"Fine! Can you teach me then!?" as the boy asked that, the teenager shrugged.

"Dunno, you're still young: in a couple of years though... Now, however, let's go get ourselves a treat: we did the washing, right?"

Naruto beamed a smile to the boy. It was just the second day, and yet he was already faring far better than before. If he had known that living alone gave you an ultra-cool caretaker, he would have started…probably when he was what, two? Maybe he'd have said that as the first word. 'Emancipation', yeah, he'd have definitively said that immediately.

It was with a bit of nervousness that the blond boy took to the streets. Behind him Slive was making sure the doors were closed, and he could hear some low hissing and clicking noises coming from within the courtyard that he had just left. Slive finally arrived, looking a bit 'handled' with his hair in disarray.

"What happened, Slive-Oniisan?"

"Oh, nothing much: I just need to bring some ice-cream back home. Two to three kilos..."

"Oh yeah! Shouldn't your family come too!?" Slive grimaced, looking at the boy for a moment, his displeasure appearing immediately on his face. For a moment, Naruto thought he had touched a really horrible argument, and was already on the process of apologizing, when he felt Slive's hand on his head.

"Our."

"Huh?"

"Our family."

"Eh?"

"I told you before. We are brethren, we are brood. You and I share the family. We are family. Our family. Not 'your', 'our'."

If a fish could have learned to gawk better, he would have done so from watching Naruto's face in the following minutes past the explanation. So…he had to pinch himself, hard. He had to slap his face, harder. He finally got pulled out of it when Slive rolled his eyes and lifted him on his shoulder, carrying him along.

To keep himself stable, Naruto had to grab on the side of the teenager's head, and keep himself tightly attached.

"Really?" Naruto whispered, more like mumbled to himself. Did he really have a family now?

"Really." Slive's reply came immediately, as the teenager rounded a corner, heading towards the market.

"You aren't lying, are you?"

"I am not."

"Why? Did Jiji ask?"

"No, I forced him to accept me, or face my wrath."

Those words made Naruto wince: to convince Jiji, of all people, it only meant that Slive was really strong. The Hokage was the strongest in the village, and so was Slive stronger than him? Was his…elder brother, stronger than him?

That was when the boy made a realization: he knew nothing of Slive, yet he had accepted him easily. He had the feeling there was something being kept from him but, deep down, he actually didn't care. He had a family now, somebody who was there for him and helped him out. He kept his grip tightly on the side of Slive's head, not in fear of falling down, but of waking up and realizing it was a dream.

"Here we are: ice-cream stop." Naruto gulped, being shaken awake from his thoughts by his brother's words. His brother? He actually started with the brother on the second day?

Still, he had been doing this on his own accord: he had been the one insisting on it. He wasn't going to disappear, was he?

"It took him five minutes, to come up with a suitable answer, and by the time he had decided, the ice cream vendor was already crying in a corner, a heap of despair taking over the man's soul, as he felt the twin blue orbs drill into his face…" Naruto jerked to stare at Slive, who was making his best 'Narrator' impression, holding back the snickers and the chuckles.

The ice cream vendor was actually waiting for the order, eying warily both Naruto and Slive. Was he actually going to serve him?

"Ehm…chocolate and…str…straw…"

"Strawberry," Slive suggested in a whisper.

"Strawberry," Naruto finished the word. He knew how to read! There were just a couple of Kanjis that seemed to elude him, but that was clearly the alphabet's fault, not his!

Then was the time for the second surprise: the ice-cream was big. Like, really big. Slive had to let him down since he needed both hands to hold the cone and the amount of sweetness perched atop it like a mountain of salivating wonderfulness.

"Cream, Vanilla and Crème Caramel for me, and then a kilo of…chocolate and…mint," Slive pointed out, before taking his very own wagon-sized order in his right hand, holding his cone in the left. The Ryo bills dropped in front of the still scared senseless vendor, the teenager turned to leave, followed closely by Naruto. The four years old was literally biting through the ice-cream, not even caring about the suffering from brain freezing. He was eating a giant ice-cream. He had always dreamed about eating one, and now he got a giant one.

"How did you do it?" Naruto asked, looking at the man after having walked in silence for a good while, strolling through the streets without much of a plan.

"Do what?" Slive asked, interested.

"Convince him to see me. To recognize me."

"You don't think he'd see you, with the Neon Orange?" Slive retorted, incredulous.

"I…I'm not sure he would have." The boy admitted, "Not without you."

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Slive whispered, earning a shocked stare from Naruto, "to not be seen. To be considered weak, pathetic, cast in a corner and forgotten by the others. To be invisible to everyone's eyes, a failure, something to scowl at, something to hate and live through… something to sneer at, something to fault for everything…some 'thing' instead of some 'one'."

"Y…Yeah," the boy replied, awry from the conversation.

"Good thing you have us now," the teenager added, sporting a bright smile, "You fought uphill till now, Naruto, but don't worry…we're here for you now. All of us."

"All of…you?" the blond looked at Slive with surprise: there was only him in the alleyway, wasn't it right?

"Look around, and _feel_ the brethren," the teenager murmured, "Look around, and _see_ the brethren. Look around…and see us all. We're family, we're brethren…we are the _brood_…we are the _legion_."

A sharp but small shriek to the side. A little tapping on the left. A crawling noise on the right. A fluttering of wings up above. A hissing sound beneath him. A pulse in front of him. A scurrying noise next to him. A whining coming from the alley. A slithering noise from the corner. A glimmer of light in the midst of the crowd. A distorted pocket of air in the middle of the sky. A strange drawing etched on the surface of a wall. A bundle rustling in a bin.

"Oh…" Naruto's breath stayed within his throat, as Slive kept talking…

"You're not ready to see all of us yet, but we are here, always." The teenager spoke quietly again, "So you are no longer alone, Naruto…never again."

"I…I see: it's like…the Inuzuka and their Ninken dogs, right?" At that question, Slive chuckled, before laughing out loud.

"No…but it's close. Still, enough revelations for the day: you should have your afternoon nap!"

"But I want to meet them!" Naruto whined back.

"No, not yet," Slive retorted, shaking his head, "everything at the right time. Not before, not afterwards."

"But…"

"Naruto," the teenager reply was final, but it didn't display annoyance, or coldness, "Not before, not afterwards."  
"Hai…"

As the duo walked back home in silence, Naruto kept glancing around. He could now feel them move, but he couldn't actually see them. He could hear them all around him, but he couldn't discern their features. A question, however, remained…

What were 'slivers' to begin with?

**Author's notes**

**Indeed! Magic the Gathering crossover found!**

***but* with a twist:**

**Planeswalkers travel through planes…and the planes are various other dimensions that take the form of other animes/mangas/cartoons/books of sorts!**

**(Only for reference issues, so that's what you're going to see in here, **_**references.**_** not going to hand out a laser sword to anyone or a zanpaktou.)**


	4. Washed clothes and Inu

The Caretaker 4

Naruto blinked once, before turning to stare back at Slive, who was doing his best innocent expression possible. After all, why should he be called on the fact that the wardrobe of his charge now held far more different types of clothing than before? Especially in the color department, which now ranged from white to black, passing through various, glitter and not, types of rainbow like patterns? There were stripes, dots, cloud-motif, leafs-motif, and there also was a strange amount of camouflage-motif clothes.

"The washing machine might have stained," he whistled innocently. Even though it was clear a lot of them couldn't possibly stain into pre-made patterns, he was sure the four year old would buy it. It was a white lie.

Naruto had gone for his afternoon nap, and when he had woken up, a couple of minutes before dinner, he had obviously taken a shower. A shower with surprisingly warm water, instead of the usual cold one…he had kind of wanted to ask if Slive would wash his back, but the four year old didn't want to overstress his…caretaker? No…his brother.

So, when he had moved to grab some clothes…that sight had reached him.

"Might?" Naruto remarked, "Oniisan! Look at that! They were white before! Now they're…rainbow!"

"And it's a bad thing? It's Kitch…Kiche…Chique…something like that," Slive replied, shrugging.

"What does that mean anyway!?"

"Something cool."

"I…I dunno Oniisan, I mean…does something that seems like a rainbow had diarrhea look cool?"

"I might be a bit biased about various colors, but for me? Definitively," the teenager nodded, before heading off to prepare dinner. He lived off various 'colors' after all. There was a light glint from the ceiling that sparkled in a set of different hues, before it swiftly disappeared.

It was night now, after an afternoon spent eating ice cream and the boy's nap, now they were enjoying the coziness of home once more. Actually, for Naruto, it was the first time 'home' and 'coziness' tied together. Usually it would be 'place where I find myself waking up after having fallen asleep in the park', or 'extremely cold and broken down place'.

It wasn't a big apartment, but to him alone it seemed so vast that…he just felt the loneliness increase, so much that he actually went outside, to mingle with the gazes from the crowd.

In the end, Naruto opted for something that looked like camouflage, only with bright yellow and red. At least the two colors didn't clash as horridly as the strength of a thousand suns.

"Oh by the way, set the plates for one more guest," Slive commented, letting his gaze settle for the window, while humming some sort of catchy tune about a white dragon flipping a cart…it was strangely compelling actually.

'_The horse is dead, _

_the chart overturned, _

_the white dragon fly, _

_as the horse reach the sky, _

_the bard sings the song, _

_and the horse hits the gong, _

_the kobolds are upon, _

_and the blizzard still goes on._

_The horse is dead,_

_The chart overturned.'_

"Is Ojiisan coming to visit!?" Naruto was quick in putting down another set of forks and knives, with a ceramic white plate. His Jiji usually never visited more than once a week or two: another visit so soon was unexpected, but not unpleasant, at all.

"No," Slive replied, "it's someone else."

"Huh?"

"Let's just say I'm sure he'll come." Quietly, Slive dropped a pile of orange books on the chair where the extra cutlery was, and then grinned winking at Naruto. He was pretty sure the boy would love to have someone else around. All he needed was just to 'catch' him, and convince him to stay…interested.

"This is how you summon an Inu."

"Inu? A dog?" The blond boy moved his head to the side, "Are we getting a pet?"

"No, but let's just say someone has always been worried about you, but didn't get a chance to meet you properly beforehand."

Naruto frowned but said nothing more: he knew Slive-Oniisan was strange, but usually acted for his best interests. Even though he had, most of the time, no idea on what he was doing. Sometimes, he actually thought not even Slive knew what he was doing.

Yet when dinner was on the table, an Anbu with a dog mask appeared in the kitchen from nowhere, eying the books left on the chair.

"Oh my…dinner is ready." Slive deadpanned, displaying a slight grin.

"Entering a private…" As the dog masked man tried to say something, the teenager merely rolled his eyes.

"Sit and eat. Hokage's orders," with a knowing nod, the orange books fell on the floor, earning a vocal cringe from the Anbu, who however decided to sit down. He, differently from Naruto, could see the small claw-like appendages coming from the extremely fast beasts that were scurrying around the kitchen.

Sure, they had a sort of pigmentation that looked nearly chameleon-like, but he was an Anbu, and beneath his mask he held the sharingan easily accessible.

He wouldn't admit he had displayed it to save his precious porn collection, but that was the deal. He couldn't fathom why the Hokage, of all people, had ordered him to go eat dinner at the apartment of the Kyuubi host. It wasn't like he hated the boy, no, after all he was the Yondaime's legacy, but still he kind of wondered _why_ he had to. The moment he decided to go there late, someone had literally taken hostage his artistic literature collection.

That someone was, obviously, the man known as 'Slive'.

Said man was an utter enigma. Anbu had nothing on him, Root had nothing on him, Jiraiya had nothing on him, no-one had nothing on him and even Danzo was frustrated by it…yet the Hokage gave him complete and utter decisional freedom. Furthermore, the Hokage outright dismissed the council, meaning that while on one side the civilians were in uproar, on the other Slive's word was as good as the Hokage's.

The question, obviously, was what Slive would do with it.

"Bossing Anbus to deliver fresh groceries," the teenager spoke nodding to himself, eyeing Kakashi with a grin.

"Hum, said something?" the silver haired Anbu had taken an Icha-Icha copy and had begun reading it, interrupting himself only enough to make his usual 'nerve-wracking' question that sent Gai on edge.

"The secret to eternal life," Slive replied with a knowing nod, "A pity."

"It was so cool!" Naruto exclaimed suddenly, before Kakashi could doubt the boy, "Now I'm definitively going to be immortal!"

Kakashi sweat-dropped: fine, this was most definitively a prank on him.

"Anyway, Naruto Uzumaki, meet Kakashi Hatake. Kakashi Hatake, meet Naruto Uzumaki…and I'm Slive." The dark brown haired teenager spoke with a light grin, as the copy-cat shinobi merely huffed, removing his mask while swiftly hiding his sharingan eye under the forehead protector.

"Well…it's been a pleasure, I suppose…" as the Jounin drawled that out, Slive turned pensive for a second.

"You know, one would think that with that sharingan of yours you'd realize it," the words were carefully spoken with a glint of wisdom behind each of them, "I mean…how many blonds are there in Konoha? Except the Yamanakas, that is…"

"What are you…"

"Slive does that a lot," Naruto barged in, "He speaks with things nobody gets and yet they all find themselves nodding."

"It's the subtle art of ranting," the teenager retorted with a little grin, "Still, to not even see the son of the teacher…a pity."

Kakashi narrowed his normal eye, before jerking violently his head to the side, this time it was with wide eyes that he looked straight at Naruto. It couldn't be…right? But then again…

"Why wasn't I told?"

"Nobody was," Slive shrugged, "not that you could do much about it even if you wanted to though…"

"Ehi, what are you two talking about?" The four years old queried, only for both Kakashi and Slive to answer, in the same tone and with the same words.

"Huh? You said something?"

"ARGH! It's contagious!" the kid scrambled out of the kitchen yelling about the 'something-sickness'.

"Fine…how do you know?" Kakashi queried, this time, it was a more threatening tone.

"You trust I'm telling the truth?" Slive retorted, raising an eyebrow.

"The Hokage gave you full access: your word is as good as his, and to do that, in a military dictatorship? Just what did you offer? He even let you live right next to…Naruto, and he fawns too much over the boy to give him just to anyone."

"I'm a god," Slive shrugged, "Actually, I'm the embodiment of a divine spark of a long lost forgotten god that somewhere, somehow, got itself torn apart in thousands of thousands of pieces giving birth to millions and millions of worlds…"

"Is this on the same level of the eternal life secret?" Kakashi deadpanned, only for Slive to grin slightly.

"Want to see a piece of godhood?"

"That sounded so much like a sexual innuendo that I'm going to slowly nod and then leave…okay?"

Slive chuckled, shaking his head.

"As you wish. However, be a dear and be a bit more present in Naruto's life, would you? Less time tomb-talking, more time with the living."

"You aren't driving home a good example…" Kakashi drawled, only for the teenager to grin.

"If it makes you snoop around more, then all the better."

"You could lose your job, you know: I'd just have to speak with the Hokage." Kakashi had barely said that, when the grin on Slive's mouth turned into a full out bright white smile. The teeth showed themselves in their pearly perfection, and yet, for all of their, seemingly, normalcy, they looked one of the most scary things Kakashi had ever seen.

"The Hokage didn't assign the job to me…I assigned it to myself." The boy slowly moved his head to the side, his smile returning into a light grin, "Trust me, Hatake…Naruto's safe with me…far more than he could be with anyone else."

Kakashi didn't know why he actually felt the need to run. The strength was there but…to the silver haired Jounin, the image that appeared in his head was that of a long strong snake, wrapped around a bunny. Whether to constrict it or protect it, however, was something he couldn't understand.

"Coffee?" Slive queried, as he grabbed two cups from the cupboard, seemingly having gone through the motions without Kakashi seeing him. That, by itself, was fishy. Sure, he didn't have the sharingan out like when he had entered, sure he wasn't actually keeping his eye completely on him, sure his mind was a bit lost in thought…but for the love of Kami, he should have seen the coffee cup being brought into his hand!

"I think I'm going to go now…"

"Good night then…oh, and don't be a stranger!" As Kakashi left the apartment from the window, Slive flashed a big wide grin.

Naruto actually came back to the kitchen moments later, muttering something about 'late night snack'.

"So…you actually wake up at night to eat?" The question made the blond boy stop, and stare at Slive, who was holding his hands at his sides, making a set of 'tsk' sounds.

"Why're you still here?" Naruto blurted out without even thinking.

"Dinner's finished, I have to clean up." Slive deadpanned, "Or do you think dishes magically wash themselves?"

"Well…"

"No, it's the Anbu. The ones that take it upon themselves to avoid the risk of a biohazard escape from here."

"Hey!"

"What? Stating the truth."

Naruto frowned, before crossing his arms and staring to the side.

"I can clean!"

"Yeah, tell that to Margaret."

"Marga-who?"

"The talking moss on your spoilt milk…and cabbage, I suppose." Slive turned thoughtful for a moment, before muttering, "Maybe I should teach you how to buy stuff."

Naruto had already lunged for the fridge, opening it to stare within. Then he closed it with a heartfelt sigh, and turned to glare at the dark brown haired teenager.

"You scared me! I thought she'd die of cold!"

"She who?" Slive blinked for a second, before raising an eyebrow, "You can't seriously tell me you believed there was a 'Margaret' inside the fridge."

"Duh-huh! Just because you told me the secret for eternal life is washing my teeth, doesn't mean the others know about it!"

"…You know, Naruto? I think you need a couple of lessons on 'Sarcasm', 'Irony' and 'Jokes'."

"Are those things you eat?"

Slive sighed, before answering back.

"No, and shouldn't you be sleeping?"

Naruto stood eerily quiet for a moment, his face scrunching up in some sort of effort to say something, before finally sighing, something that a four year old shouldn't be doing, and replying.

"Neh, Slive-Oniisan…"

"Yes?"

"You could…sleep in the guest room, you know?"

"Oh?"

"Well…it's just that…if you make breakfast, you'd be closer to the kitchen than if you were in your apartment." As the four year old showed his logic, Slive brought a hand to his chin, like he was thinking a lot about it. Then, with a sort of knowledgeable nod, headed for the kitchen's larder, or at least, for the door that usually led to the kitchen's larder.

Opening it, Naruto was baffled. There was a hallway in there! And doors! And…

"Oh."

"Yep, our apartments are connected."

"Wasn't there a…"  
"Dismantled it."

"Wouldn't the landlord…"  
"Taken care of." Three words and Naruto flinched…he had half an idea on what Slive meant by that…had to be the tone used, probably.

"So…can I meet y…our family now!?" at the four years old query, the teenager sighed, shaking his head.

"It's late: you have to sleep and no, you aren't ready yet."

"But…"

"And tomorrow is going to be a stressful day: I'm teaching you how to read." The boy pointed out, before finishing the dishes in the sink and putting them back to dry in the cupboards.

"I don't need it to be Hokage!"

"So how are you going to read proposal, and approve them?"

"But…"

"Nope." The teenager made a 'no' gesture with the finger, "Not getting yourself out of it."

"Then I can meet the family?"

"Say what: you learn how to read well enough, and I'll let you meet Basil."

"Basil?" He had already heard that name, but where?

"Yep, my son."

"Ah your…WHAT!?"

**Author's notes**

**Drabble out.**

'**Main' story going on, (for those who are wondering about the Harsh Truth, lot of battle scenes, and since I don't leave things halfway, I'm writing through them all, made drabble to distract myself)**


	5. Of words, parks and guards

The Caretaker 5

Naruto's pouting face was a mixture of a light frown, a slight twitch of the lips, the scrunching of his eyes in concentration, all mixed with a repeated scratching of the neck.

"O…Osm…Osmosis?"

"Correct. That word in the upper right corner is Homeopathic."

"Oh…then this one is…Or…Originally?"

"Yep."

"Ha! Told you I'd get them down!" Naruto exclaimed brightly, closing the dictionary, "And before the day ended just like I said!"

"You spent an entire morning on a dictionary, for ten words," Slive retorted, displaying a small grin. "It's hardly a feat."

"Says who!?"

"Says me." The reply came with a chuckle, as the teenager finally turned on the stove, to start cooking lunch.

"Aw…come on! Jiji would be proud of me!"

"And I'm proud of you, Naruto. The point remains: it's hardly a feat."

There was a small sigh, this time coming from the blond boy, before the dictionary was removed from the table, and placed back in its alcove within the shelf.

"Can I still meet Basil?"

"Don't know…promise you'll be good?" Slive queried, raising an eyebrow.

"Hai! I'll be on my best behavior!" as Naruto exclaimed that, the brown haired boy shook his head.

"Wasn't talking to you, Naruto…well, come on Basil, out of the closet."

The next second, Naruto's eyes lit up, as he scanned the room for this 'Basil'. He half expected a grown-up, a sort of really powerful shinobi, to manage to keep hidden from his awesome senses…or maybe a toddler, even younger than him…

What he hadn't expected was a strange black skinned creature, with a set of protruding tendrils. Said creature made small screeching noises, tapping on the floor rhythmically, while the flesh bubbled and splashed around releasing a grime foul liquid. Then it twitched, it shrieked slightly, and finally it twisted its entire body; when the flesh gave way again a small carbon copy of Slive, albeit with dark raven hair and black pupil-less eyes stood there.

Naruto looked, and for a mere minute, nobody said anything.

Then, just as Slive was about to touch the boy, to see if he had fainted on the spot there was a scream…a scream of joy.

"THAT WAS SO COOL DATTEBAYO!"

Basil looked without an emotion of sorts at the screeching thing that seemed to be jumping all around him. Was he trying to imitate a frothing rabbit?

"Teach me! Teach me! That was such a cool move! How did you do that!? Scratch that! How did you do the popping and the screams and…"

"Father," Basil spoke quietly, eying Slive, "Is this…thing, fully functional?"

"Oh…that's Naruto." The man shrugged, "Trust me, he'll do worse."

"I understand."

"HEY! Don't ignore me!" Naruto pouted, before crossing his arms over his chest, "I'm your uncle!"

"Un…cle?" Basil retorted, looking from Naruto to Slive, and from Slive to Naruto…without much interest on his face.

"Oh," he added, after a brief moment, "And that…means what?"

"Oh!" Naruto exclaimed with a wide smile…before suddenly deflating. What did it mean? He turned to look at Slive, who merely shrugged.

"Nothing much. It's just a description to decide what blood closeness one holds with another."

"I see." Basil replied nodding, before looking once more over Naruto, "By that logic, we should be strangers then."

"But…But…" Naruto was already starting to feel, well, something in his stomach. Something that wasn't making him happy…it made him sad, actually. It was…what was the name…melancholic…yes, that was the name.

"Basil…Just stop it," Slive retorted, rolling his eyes, "He means nothing bad with it, Naruto. He's just…like that."

"The legion's…"

"And stop it with the legion! I'm your father, not the legion!"

"Always illogical," Basil retorted with a shrug, "So…why did I have to leave the comfort of the brood?"

Naruto's head was moving from Basil to Slive and back, trying to understand what the hell they were speaking about, but he wasn't making much of a progress.

"He wanted to meet you," Naruto's caretaker replied, while returning to his work of cooking lunch.

"He wants to 'Meat' me?"

"No. Meet. EET. To see someone. You know? Talking, getting to know one another...socializing…" Slive sighed with desperation, as he moved to set the plates on the table.

"I see…" Basil, once more, looked at the four year old boy, "Are we meeting right now?"

"Huh…Yeah, I suppose…" Naruto replied, with a quick nodding motion.

"Well then, I enjoy the color black." Basil replied quietly, as Naruto, instead, sported a small smile.

"I like blue and beige!"

"Well…the day appears to be sunny."

"Yeah! Maybe this afternoon we can go to the park! It's been a while since I went outside!" As Naruto exclaimed that, Slive mentally noted that he had actually brought the boy outside on more than one occasion…but said nothing. The 'outside' Naruto referred to was probably the park, and not the general intention of 'exiting the house'.

"The park appears to be a normal solution to a sunny day." Basil's reply was polite and diplomatic, but also quite…not emotionless, as it was more logical.

"Well, you're coming too right?" Naruto's question hung in the air for a moment, before the boy turned to look at Slive.

The stare they both gave one another was something akin to two cobras both looking for the moment to strike at the other. It wasn't hostility, or annoyance, just…some sort of silent communication.

Naruto waited, quietly, for the stares to divert. In the end, after what seemed an eternity, Slive broke the stare contest to get back to cooking, effectively having Basil turn to stare at the blond boy, to give the answer.

"It appears so."

"Ehm…cool, listen, about teaching me that terrific jutsu," the boy hesitantly began to speak, only to be swiftly interrupted by Basil once more.

"That was not a jutsu."

"But the flesh and the noise and…" as Naruto babbled, trying to come to terms with what it could be, Basil merely shook his head.

"That was not a jutsu."

"But…"

"That. Was. Not. A. Jutsu."

"Okay! Geez I get it! Then what was it? Magic?"

"Ability."

"Ability?"

"Natural ability."  
"So…you can transform?"

"No."

"But you said you could!"

"No, I said it was the product of a natural ability. I cannot transform. Someone in the brood can. Thus he transforms me."

"The brood?" Naruto was lost. He understood less and less about what was going on; thus he decided to do what every four year old does when he doesn't understand something: he ignored it.

"Indeed." Basil's reply came with a light nod, to give emphasis to the conversation, probably.

"…Argh! I'm surrounded by strange people!" Naruto exclaimed, raising his hands in the air, "I give up!"

"What? We were meeting, not fighting…why give up?" Basil moved his head to the side, not understanding.

"No! Not that way, I meant, I mean…I…ARGH! Slive-Oniisan!"

"Hai, hai…" Slive chuckled, snapping his fingers. The next moment, Naruto had barely blinked, and Basil wasn't there any longer.

"Wait! Where did he go!?" Naruto's question was met with an arched eyebrow from his caretaker, who retorted.

"He's gone to eat: you know that it's lunch time…right? He'll be back when we leave for the park."

"Oh."

_Flesh and nails dug up from the ground, pulsing tumors of fat and lumps of muscles. Screeching sounds and noises echoed through the hive, the feast was arriving, covered in metal and armed with swords. But it was a feast, for the brood was hungry._

"Like you should too…come on, lunch is served!"

There was a light concern in Naruto's eyes…for just a split second, he had thought there was meat upon his plate, and not rice and fish…but it wasn't even normal meat, no, it was raw…bloody, covered in reddened skin.

It lasted for nothing more than a second, and then it was gone.

Puzzled, the four years old still ate lunch, eying Slive that was silently doing the same, while at the same time washing the pots and the plates that had been used.

He had eaten in the blink of an eye that much Naruto was sure of…yet he was usually the fastest one to eat!

"So…park?"

"Park."

"Ehm…Slive-Oniisan…you know there are other kids in the park," Naruto began, hesitantly.

"Yes…so?"

"Well…you won't leave me for them, right?"

Slive stopped for a second, stilling his breath, before shaking his head.

"Naruto." He began, with a low grumbling noise, "What you are implying is something I take great offense in." He turned around, his eyes lit with fierce fury, "I never abandon any of my charges. Ever."

Naruto merely shrank on his chair, gulping down nervously.

"But the guys at the orphanage…"

"They are not me. Do not confuse me for them. Do not make the error to know for certain until proven." He added, "There are many things that are not as portrayed, there are far more that are completely different than what is told. Unless you see, and unless you have felt and known, never take for granted…never."

An awkward silence landed between the two until Naruto finally gathered enough courage to dash and get his shoes on. If they went there early, then maybe there wouldn't be much of a crowd. He didn't want Slive to get 'bullied' by the grownups. Naruto knew he could handle it, but he was kind of scared…for the other grownups.

In truth, leaving the apartment was easy. There were no graffiti, the people outside the street ignored the two with ease, and there wasn't even a hard stare sent his way. Strangely, things seemed to be looking up for the blond boy. It was along the road that Basil joined the two, popping out of a dark alley like one of those candy offering guys. Walking between the two, Naruto kind of felt like a noble, that walks around the street with his security guards.

Point being that Basil's stare was something akin to the murderous, even in his normal, relaxed, state. Not that Naruto knew the difference between a 'relaxed' stare and a murderous hateful one. He got too much of the latter and not enough of the first.

The park came into view after a couple of minutes, and, just as Naruto had predicted, there was practically no-one. Basil merely began to move towards the shade of a tree, stopping halfway when a gritting teeth noise came to his ears.

He turned to stare at Slive, who was giving a light look over at Naruto that was heading off towards the sand bunker.

Basil looked back at his 'father' with an exasperated stare, before sighing and moving to follow the blond. That out of the way, Slive was the one to slide down against the tree's bark, enjoying the shadow that the plant provided.

Naruto, on the other hand, didn't seem to care about the scorching heat or the sun's glare. At least, until a straw hat found its way upon his head, at which point he turned to stare at Basil, who had done the very same trick of his father.

"Ya know," he began, "I usually came to the park alone at night, just to avoid the stares. It's really quiet around here when the sun goes down."

"Sleeping hours are required for humans to function properly," Basil retorted.

"Yeah, anyway, I always thought I'd get someone to come and play with me, if I ever kept up a good smile and acted nicely…but no-one ever wanted to."

"Some kids are more perceptive than others." Basil's reply came with a light grin, "Maybe they saw a mask and felt the need not to trust."

"But I just wanted friends! I was fine with giving away the toys at the orphanage…since they'd get them anyway, though it sucked…but!" he exclaimed, "I wasn't wearing a mask! I had my face always!"

"Oh no…I'm referring to an ethereal mask, not a real one." Basil shook his head mere seconds afterwards, adding more words to explain, "What I meant is…that maybe you were making fake smiles, and some kids didn't like them…albeit…"

He stopped for a second, and then grimaced. His eyes moved to Slive, and then back to Naruto. A small screeching sound came from the tree beneath which the caretaker was resting, as a small slithering mass of tendrils, intertwined with multicolored gems, was basking in the sun.

"No, scratch that, I know why they did it…"

"Really? Can you tell me!?" Naruto's question came with his eyes widening up, as he practically got into a begging position, grabbing a hold of Basil's legs, "Please, please! Just tell me!"

"I cannot," Basil murmured, and swiftly added seeing the look of hurt on the boy's face, "Not because I don't want to, but because everything…"

"Everything at the right time. Not a moment before, and not a moment after," Naruto whispered, his eyes down, "Well…but you'll tell me, right?"

"When the time comes, you will know." Basil whispered back, a small smile springing on his face, "If you don't mind, may I ask what we're going to do in this…sand thing?"

"Hum…Build a sand castle?"

The black haired teen merely raised a puzzled eyebrow, before retorting.

"We do not have the utensils for the job, nor enough sand."

"What do ya mean!? Hands and sand is all we need! Look!"

As the two began to 'work' on a sand castle, Slive remained comfortably resting against the tree's bark, his eyes closed.

"Always watching, huh?"

The question hung in the air for a moment, before a small huffing sound came from the side of the tree, where the Hokage had appeared from thin air.

"How is he?" Hiruzen asked, concern hidden in his voice but still clearly apparent.

"He's doing fine," Slive replied, rolling his eyes, "You worry too much."

"I've got missing people left and right, complaints and far worse at the office…I don't want to be worrying about Naruto now, at least."

"There's nothing to be afraid of," Slive murmured back, "I have eyes and ears everywhere. No-one is going to touch him."

"There are…"

"People who want him out? People who want him trained to be a tool of war? I know. I knew from the beginning and I still know. Though the pebble cast in the lake ripples the water in unknown ways, the lake's form does not change. Those who betray shall be dealt with, at the right moment. Not a second before, and not a second after."

The Sandaime merely took a puff of his pipe, before closing his tired eyes for a mere instant, and disappearing in thin air once more. He should truly stop worrying…even if he did, there was nothing he could do about it, after all.

A screech came from the side of the tree, as a white spiked creature suddenly jerked into existence, eying carefully the surrounding area, before dashing off. Its white coloration did nothing to make him more visible, as even the sun's glare seemed to be ineffective in pinpointing where the creature was going.

The creature's speed was inhuman, as it darted through the leaves, the trees and the branches, suddenly taking to the air with his quills on the back rising up…and then the creature shot the spikes on her back.

There was no noise, as the spikes embedded themselves deeply within the chest of a masked shinobi, blood oozing out from the wounds with far more than normal speed. Less than a minute passed, and the corpse of the man no longer was there.

The Sliver stood quiet, perched atop the branch, acting as the scout for the legion. His eyes, small and squinted, looked at the road that led to the park, where a young girl with bright pink hair was moving closer and closer. She held her hair tied by a ribbon of a dark red color, and her eyes were of a light green color.

Slive merely chuckled to himself from his position, resting his back against the tree. Things were going to turn south, eventually, and every bit of rest was welcomed…after all, even the hive mind needs rest, every now and then.

**Author's notes**

**Basil is a Basal Sliver, for those who didn't catch the name similitude.**

**The creature perched on the branch is a Gemhide Sliver, the one attacking the hidden shinobi is a Quill Sliver powered by a Sidewinder Slither (attack plus flanking)**

**Remember these are drabble chapters. I usually upload one when the main story 'The Harsh Truth' reaches tot number of words in writing (usually, it can be a safe assumption that I have just written from 2k to 5K of words whenever I upload one of these chapters)**


	6. Of pink blossoms and deep roots

The Caretaker 6

Sakura Haruno was walking upon the cobblestone road towards the park. It was still early after lunch, and there were few kids usually around that time. Her reason for being so early was, apart from taking some fresh air, to maybe get to read the story book her mother had bought her under the sun, without a worry for mean bullies.

Ami was especially mean, but she usually didn't come to the park until later with her friends. She, on the other hand, was going to be long gone by then. Slowly she made her way to the side of her favorite tree, where she realized much to her dismay that a teenager wearing a light beige jacket was already in the process of happily snoring alongside it.

She could have gone to another tree, but that was her favorite tree and the boy was sleeping: there was no way he'd be mean to her. He didn't seem to be wearing a forehead protector, so it meant he wasn't a shinobi. Sakura calmly sat down, taking her book and beginning to skim through the pages trying to find the footnote she had left.

Naruto on the other hand was having the time of his life. If joy could be extracted, bottled up and sold for a penny then extracting it from the blond boy would have made anyone rich. He was playing in the sand pen, with someone else, and that someone wasn't trying to drown him in the sand or kick him out.

Sure, maybe Basil could have been more 'reactive' about playing in there, but it was fine either way. The castle was coming along well, albeit he did have some kind of reserve on the boy's side of the wall. Was it normal for walls to have small figurines hanging from the side, with bits and plasters of what looked like heads made of sand?

Unknown to him Basil was carefully depicting the assault on the Riptide Isle's laboratory's walls and the subsequent escape of the Slives from within the containment tanks. The fact that he was adding the gory details of how his ancestors ravaged the bodies of the scientists was something that thankfully the sand couldn't bring out in its full glory.

So Naruto was merely watching Basil playing with the sand by creating small shapes that resembled mounts.

"And then we have to build a couple of towers, right!?" Naruto's exclamation was met with a quiet nod from Basil. The twisted tower-like structures of Mirrodin came into his mind. Considering it wasn't actually 'his' mind to begin with, he realized it had to be the subtle impulses coming from the hive mind when certain events were spoken of.

Now, Slivers are by nature hive-minds, but that does not mean that individuality cannot coexist. It just means that, pretty much like a computer, some processes take priority over others, but none effectively stop. So while the Hive Mind rules above all, the single minds are perfectly free to act as they wish as long as they are not needed for a greater purpose.

In this particular circumstance, there was no greater purpose and Slive was sleeping peacefully. Or so he was making it look like.

Quietly, Basil queried.

"What is your dream?"

Naruto looked at him for a moment, before sporting a cheeky grin and replying out loud.

"My dream is to become Hokage! So everyone will have to recognize me and treat me with respect!"

White mantle on the back, red flames depicted upon it, scenes of a nine tailed fox being defeated. Man in red armor, raven haired, using trees to bind a nine tailed fox. Man in blue armor, with grey hair and red eyes, looking down kindly. A wizened old man with a pipe in his mouth smiled behind a desk, looking among his papers. A woman with blond hair and pig tails. An old man holding the hat in his hand, his right eye covered.

Basil blinked as the images entered his mind, before he slowly moved his head to the side.

"I see…and then?"

"Then…then I'll be the greatest Hokage of them all!"

A bridge covered in fog. A snake tore apart from the inside. A battle fought against a white eyed boy. A fight to the death against a monster made of sand. The pursuing of a raven haired boy, the battle, the wounds that followed. The training of three years, and the boy's return. Another battle, more battles all depicted in small brief flashes of images until the final one that…

_Curiosity killed the cat._

Basil blinked, and then nodded quietly.

"I understand. I am sure you will."

Meanwhile, Slive stirred and groaned as he got back up to a sitting position. He must have slid down the wooden bark during his rest. It was in moments like this that he recalled being not only a psychic image of the legion, but also a flesh being.

He was a Planeswalker after all, but at the same time, he was also the bearer of the legion's mind. He was one and he was all. Sometimes the distinction faded and sometimes it grew. Just like in that moment, when he gave a heated glare to the Sliver that was happily snoring next to him.

A long beak of a dark grey color, with scales the color of metal and horns protruding from the back of his head. A tail that seemed to fork in a palm-like way and pulsed with greenish colors, while at the same time being covered in a light fog-like mist.

The Dormant sliver, the crux of his present dilemma, was merely snoring in a corner. Whether by chance or luck he had managed to avoid the Aetheric dilemma for a long, long while. Now the question was how to convince the damn thing to go elsewhere. He knew he had subconsciously called him when he had closed his eyes. Slivers did not sleep. They either hibernated or entered a half-dormant phase.

The dormant phase didn't mean being immovable though. It meant not attacking and simply rutting with whatever passed by. Thus, removing from his brain the 'rutting' part, the crux of the dilemma was that the damn dormant sliver had to go. Not 'go' in the sense of sacrificed for a greater cause, but truly leave for the home plane and come back when, and if, called.

Not that he'd call him consciously ever again. That was probably the reason why the dormant sliver was doing his best silent impression of being asleep. Even insectoids with hive minds can be fickle sometimes.

Slive didn't want to move yet, probably due to the still fresh interferences with his synapses by the Dormant, so he glanced with curiosity at the pink haired girl that seemed engrossed in a book right next to him.

Well, not really next to him, as in more to the side of the tree where he was sitting. The book seemed to be a picture story. Obviously there was no sane in the mind children who would read filled with text books without pictures…

Naruto sneezed from the sand pen.

Nor would they be subjected to learning said words through a really complicated dictionary.

Naruto sneezed again.

"Cold?" Basil queried, bringing his right hand forward slowly, letting it gently drop on the boy's forehead.

"Nah! I'm fine! I can never get sick!" The blond boy replied blushing slightly. Considering he was being the center of attention, something he had craved for most of his life…he now felt just how much embarrassing it was. He was pretty sure he wasn't sick: there was no need to mother him!

"Never say never," Basil replied, turning his gaze to where Slive was and standing up, "We should ask the legion."

"Why do you call Slive-Oniisan the Legion? Isn't he your Tou-san?" Naruto asked back, as he got up and started to follow his…nephew? Nah, friend was a better term.

"He is both," Basil replied cryptically, as he neared the tree.

Sakura had been reading about the fluffy bunny entering the hole and disappearing from the evil wolf, and was thus so engrossed in it that when she read the line saying the fluffy bunny was safe, she naturally sighed in relief.

That was when she realized that there was a pair of cerulean blue eyes looking at her with fierce intensity and curiosity.

She gave a small startled 'eep' before embarrassingly closing her book with a quick snap.

It seemed that the two playing in the sand pen were friends with the teenager sitting beneath the tree's shade. The boy talking to the teenager seemed like a carbon copy of him, if only a bit smaller and with raven and black as colors for hair and eyes. The other one instead seemed completely out of paragon.

He had blond hair and blue eyes, whisker-like signs on his face and seemed to be looking at her with a really curious stare.

"W…Wh…What!?" Sakura exclaimed, "What do you want!?"

Naruto stared for a moment more, before replying in a murmur.

"You're pretty."

Basil's head suddenly found itself planted in the ground, as Slive outright grabbed the Dormant Sliver by the tail and spun him around, before making it depart at the speed of light towards the sky and out of the atmosphere.

By then, both Sakura and Naruto had been looking at the two strange persons who were acting even stranger than mere minutes before.

"Oh…right! My name is Naruto! Uzumaki Naruto! He's Slive-Oniisan," pointing at Slive who was in the process of recollecting himself, "and that's Basil-san! They're kind of weird, but they're also my precious family!"

Basil, if he could have, would have burrowed his head deeper into the ground. It wasn't enough that he had to be ridiculed by his father half of the time, when in front of other planeswalker. No, he had to be flustered with embarrassment also on a god forgotten plane that his father had wanted to go in.

Slive instead merely coughed a couple of time, before sporting an awry smile.

"Naruto, please you're embarrassing the poor girl."

Sakura, indeed, was red faced. Maybe it was the bangs that covered her forehead. That was why the boy had called her pretty. There wasn't another explanation, right?

"But she has a really pretty forehead!"

Another 'eep', smoke rising from the girl's ears, and Sakura fell to the side, knocked out cold.

"Oh Kami what did I do!?" Naruto's exclamation was met with Basil being forcefully removed from the earth's crust.

"No! Let me go!" Basil's startled cries were met with a heartfelt sigh from Slive.

"Don't be such a baby: you can't reach the earth core from here."

"No, but I can die trying!"

"What's with Basil-san?" Naruto queried curiously.

"He's weak to fluff," Slive retorted, "cheesy lines, cuteness in general. It's sort of his natural opponent, you know?"

"Oh…what's fluff?"

"It's…never mind us! Keep going!" Slive added, making a thumb-up in his direction.

Naruto turned to look at Sakura, scratching the back of his head with a small smile.

"I'm sorry about them! Neh, do you want to play with me and Basil-san!?"

The girl merely nodded numbly, and then she found herself being pulled into a game of tag, with Basil doing his best 'slow-motion yet fast enough to be a threat' move.

That brief moment of happiness came to an abrupt end when a sharp shriek resonated in the air.

"Sakura! Come here this instant young girl!" A flustered pink haired woman screeched that from the side of the park.

"Okaa-san!" The girl merely smiled, not realizing the distressed tone of her mother, something that Slive and Basil, instead, had clearly felt. Naruto too, strangely, seemed to have come to terms with it, seeing how he had quietly moved back to where Slive was.

The teenager didn't say a word, merely standing back up and watching with narrowed eyes as the woman brought, forcefully, the girl away from the park.

"The girl left her book here," Basil stated, "She's probably going to come back tomorrow to look for it," he added carefully.

"Yeah," Naruto mumbled, "I'll give it back then."

Slive said nothing. He merely hissed with disdain.

"Slive-Oniisan?" Naruto asked, seeing the clear anger in the older boy's face.

"Nothing Naruto, nothing," the boy replied, shaking his head, "I am baffled by human's stupidity, that is all."

"Only two things are infinite: the universe and the human stupidity, and I am not sure about the first." Basil dutifully quoted.

"Huh? Does that mean everyone is infinitively stupid?" As Naruto asked that, Slive looked in shock at the blond boy, his mouth hanging for a moment, before finally whispering back.

"You just used the word 'infinitively'…I'm so proud of you right now…we'll have cake tonight!"

Basil, for once, actually raised his right fist in the air in a sort of 'yeah' motion.

"Can we have ramen instead?" the blue eyed boy pleaded, "I really, really love eating ramen!"

"Oh, right, sure!" the teenager swiftly nodded, "You already have a place in mind?"

"Hai!" The young boy smiled, "Teuchi-Ojisan is going to be happy to have more customers!"

Basil looked to the side, tensing slightly, and then he was gone in a flurry of tendrils.

Naruto had barely blinked that when he did reopen his eyes, in the park he stood alone together with Slive, but of Basil, there was no trace at all.

"Where di Basil-san go?"

"He'll join us later," Slive replied, "He saw something and went to 'investigate' it."

The Root shinobi cursed under his breath, as he made his way back to base. He had been so close to enter the target's mind, and yet he had been repelled. Like the man hadn't even been there in the body!

Just who was this 'Slive' and why did Danzo-sama want to know about him?

What was unknown to the man, as he quietly slid through the training halls of Root, was that Crystalline slivers and Mistform slivers moved in tandem while weaving a silent pattern of shadows and tendrils. The claws did not glitter in the light, as they came swiftly down.

The Yamanaka felt his mind utterly smashed to a pulp, and for that, Fu was no longer there. In his place, a sliver walked, made of air, made of gas, made of mist that condensed until his shape was that of the deceased. The body feasted upon and hidden, the Sliver moved. He had a meeting to attend.

He had things to do. He had brethren to protect and a brood to strengthen, because that was the will of the legion and that was the will of the Slivers.

Not even death could stop the slivers, what made this 'Root' think they could?

**Author's notes**

**Another one out.**

**And as always when this comes out I usually update on the progress with the final chapter of the Harsh Truth, (I'm currently at 16K going upwards) which is going on strong.**

**In this one, we had Crystalline Slivers, Mistform Slivers, Dormant Slivers and a bit of Sliver Lore. (The last sentence is freely taken from the Crypt Sliver's card's text.)**

**And there's nothing 'final', these are drabbles that go about showing various events and interactions…only with the Sliver Legion right next to Naruto. Albeit the Sliver Legion is also a planeswalker, who does come from our world…so…I kind-of-crossovered/inserted various themes in one. Then went rolling with what I enjoyed.**


	7. Of accusations, resurrections and jokes

The Caretaker 7

Teuchi Ichiraku had seen many things. He had had many customers along the years sitting at his stool. His only policy had been, since the day of opening, 'Everyone is welcomed and no-one is thrown out'. So, when he found himself serving ramen to the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, he did so without batting an eyelid.

He did so for the following weeks and months, and finally came to the sad realization that the kid had grown on him. The realization had been sad, because he had no way of adopting him and at the same time sustaining both him and his daughter. At the same time, he knew deep down that he was a coward, and should be ashamed of himself.

Still, when Naruto came back, after three days of absence with a fellow he had never seen before, Teuchi instinctively gazed at the teenager.

It was the very same gaze that any father gives off to the boyfriend-to-be of the daughter, but in this case it was far more lax. At first sight, the teenager seemed normal.

That was what made him immediately suspicious in Teuchi's eyes. There was no 'normal' in Konoha. Sure, there might have seemed to be _normality_, but in truth it was just another glint of madness.

So when a perfectly normal teenager entered right next to Naruto, and both clearly talked to one another with a colloquial tone, Teuchi was ready to jolt to his trusty cutting knife and teach the teenager in question that no, one should not '_play'_ with that particular child…not on his watch at least.

"Teuchi-Ojisan! Meet Slive-Oniisan!" Naruto piped in with a bright smile.

_The poor child! If this man thinks he can abuse…_

"It is a pleasure to meet you," Slive nodded in reply, while looking at the menu for something to order.

"Likewise: it is really great that someone befriended Naruto-kun here, I'm sure there are no second intentions in doing that, right?!" Teuchi gritted through his forced smile, as Naruto was already lost in ramen dreams and thus completely out of the equation.

"Of course," Slive replied, "He's family."

_You liar! He can't be! I know for a fact that he's the Yondaime and Kushina's son…who do you think was awake at three in the morning to cook ramen for the two, huh!?_

"Oh my…but I never saw you in town before…where were you, if you left him alone till now?"

"Out of this particular dimensional plane," the teenager replied with a shrug, "Had to mark the area, so the others knew not to come barging in."

_What is he talking about? Mark the area? Did he…did he already…_

"Oh…tell me Naruto!" Teuchi exclaimed looking at the blond haired kid, "Have you already played with your Oniisan?"

To that answer, Naruto lit up like a firecracker.

"Yes! We went to the park today Teuchi-Ojisan! We played tag and built sand castles! Slive-Oniisan is teaching me how to read and write, and now I can use really complica…compli…" A small frown on Naruto's face stood for a second, before the boy finally finished the sentence, "complicated! Yeah, complicated words!"

"Oh well, nothing else?" The old man asked, as he stirred the broth for the ramen. Maybe, just maybe, he had exaggerated his reactions. It's not like there really had to be a pedophile aiming at the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki…

"Nu-uh! I also play with Basil-san too! But he's a bit of an emotionless," Slive whistled at the 'emotionless' word, "guy…but he's nice! Really! He plays with me even if it's annoying!"

"If I had known that a day with a dictionary would have worked like that…I'd have done it sooner," the teenager stated, as he made his own order.

He ordered Pork ramen, with triple extra layer of pork, the very same order that Naruto made not a second later.

By the time the bowls were there, Naruto looked worriedly to his sides, flinching lightly.

"Isn't Basil-san coming?"

"I did mention cake this afternoon, right?" Slive queried more to himself than to actually anyone, "So it means that he now has his mind busy with 'cake'-thoughts. He'll probably empty a bakery or two before remembering there's dinner with ramen…not that it would matter any longer, considering the quantities of cake he can eat."

"Oh." It was a single mutter, yet for some reason it felt extremely sad. It didn't take Slive more than a second to understand what the reason for said low morale was, nor how to fix it.

"Neh Naruto," the caretaker said with a light smile, "There's always tomorrow at lunch, or tomorrow night, and then you'll be able to go with Basil and me. I'm not going anywhere, and neither is Basil," or the rest of the brood and the family.

"I…I know! You're right!" The boy replied with a bright smile, the sulking mood completely forgotten, "So is the ramen good!? It's way better than cake, right?"

Slive narrowed his eyes on Naruto, who felt a strange shivering emotion.

"Boy…nothing is better than roasted meat, not even cake."

"Somebody said cake?" Basil commented, entering the stall with a sort of satisfied expression and a dose of whipped cream on the lower half of his chin.

He also had a couple of cherries, those for cake decorations, nestled on his head while on his right shoulder stood a half-chewed candle with the number '18' half-eaten. He looked, for all purposes, like a veteran of war. A war that involved cream and various assorted pastries. He even had a smudge of whipped cream on his right cheek, and didn't seem to mind at all.

"Teuchi-Ojisan! This is Basil-san, he's Slive-Oniisan's son!" The blond haired boy exclaimed, before recalling just what Slive had said.

"Roasted meat? But it's crunchy! Ramen is way better!"

"Crunchy!? You have no idea what you're talking about! My roasted meat is perfect! You'll see!"

"Cake beats all," Basil deadpanned, before ordering a 'sweet' ramen.

Teuchi, meanwhile, was eying pretty clinically the scene. The two 'did' seem honest in their interactions with Naruto, however there was a tiny little problem that he could make no sense of it. Sure, Basil seemed a carbon copy of Slive, but he was pretty much the same age as him! How could he be his son? Maybe he 'was' a bit smaller than the teenager, but that was all.

Either Slive was lying, but then again, why not simply say that they were brothers? There was something fishy hidden below the surface…and he'd fish it out for Naruto's sake.

"One sweet dango ramen coming right up!" As the Ichiraku stall owner moved to the broth, a female voice chirped from outside the street, catching everyone's attention.

"Otou-san!" Ayame exclaimed, coming right in, "I'm here to help you!" The fourteen year old girl moved right behind the counter, grabbing a knife in the meantime.

"Ayame, maybe that's not a good…" Teuchi did try to stop his daughter, but it was too late. The knife left the clumsy hand of the stall girl, who had tried to literally fling it downwards against the mortal enemy of hers: the carrots. It ended up straight ahead into Basil's forehead, however, 'thunking' as it hit.

The boy stood very, very still for a moment, as everyone froze in the stall.

Slive rolled his eyes and hissed for a second. A small and completely black creature crawled from beneath the stall's counter and gently touched one of Basil's legs. The knife was suddenly jerked outside by the caretaker's son own hand, who dropped it gently on the counter, before the wound on his forehead closed in a split second.

"Basil here loves to joke on people with Genjutsu." Slive nodded to himself, earning a set of sighs of relief and one very, very flustered Ayame.

Naruto's face, however, showed a sort of angry snarl at Basil. It took little less than a minute, for the reason to appear clear.

"Stupid! That was a stupid joke! Stupid! Stupid! It was stupid!" The boy dashed off the next moment, leaving the stall, as Basil cast Slive a sour look.

"Next time, you learn to dodge cutlery," the teenager screeched in low murmurs to his son, who darted off too to catch the four years old.

Slive, the sole remaining in the stall, paid in silence. It was just then, as Ayame had gone in the back, that Teuchi narrowed his eyes.

"That was not a Genjutsu."

"I can resurrect the dead," Slive deadpanned, "as long as they are members of my family."

"That's impossible!"

"Then, you see…it was a Genjutsu." The teenager retorted with a quick nod. "And my son has the uncanny nature of being a bit on the suicidal line."

Teuchi gritted his teeth, before muttering.

"That's a lie."

"Not it's not. He is kind of suicidal…in his own way."

"He's too old to be your son!" Teuchi snapped, "And I don't know what you're planning to do with Naruto, but when I'll find out, because I'll find out, I'll make sure the Hokage gets you thrown into the highest security jail there is!"

Slive raised an eyebrow, perplexed.

"I'm…over two thousand years old." He pointed out. "Well, it depends actually. If I'm a reincarnation of the Queen's or of the Overlord's synapses, then I'm probably a hell of a lot older."

Teuchi's face sported shock. Just what was the boy talking about!?

"In any event," Slive commented, looking straight into the eyes of the ramen vendor, "I am here for the wellbeing and the care of Naruto, and not even hell itself will prevent me from doing just that. So we will see each other again pretty soon, I suppose. Have a good night."

The teen then left, leaving behind a befuddled Teuchi who was kind of wondering why, while looking into Slive's eyes, the idea that the teenager was in truth a two thousand years old had made so much sense. Nobody could have such lonely eyes, right?

Slive whistled as he walked along the streets, the cold breeze doing nothing to sooth his raging emotions. It was a bad thing for him to be enraged, of all people. It was a really, really horrible idea: because if he was enraged, then so were his slivers, and if they were enraged, their fury would be unleashed upon anyone near them.

He tried to calm down, but he knew deep down that it was futile. It was like the wave that is made in the stadiums, during soccer matches or any sport event. Once it starts, it cannot be stopped. His mind wasn't only his. It was the intertwined connections of thousands upon thousands of Slivers across the interdimensional planes.

He was at the same time Slive and a Battering Sliver, fighting for supremacy against another one. He was the Crypt Sliver that gave new life upon the deceased in the plains of Dominaria, and the wicked Fungus Sliver, that grew upon the scratches of his own brood.

He was the Might Sliver and the Lymph sliver. He was the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. He was the first and the last.

Yet he was all of them, and at the same time none. He was the mind of the Legion, he was the Legion, yet he also remembered not being that in the beginning. Being someone else, far younger.

He knew that somewhere, somehow, he had lost sight of him. Yet he also knew that he was there, with every one of his movements. He remembered by instinct, he acted upon morals that weren't his and yet were.

He was good because his other self was and not because Slivers were intrinsically so. He was the Caretaker of future Planeswalker by choice, but it wasn't his. It was Slive's, it was him.

It was him, whoever he was, that had chosen to help. Slive had come afterwards. The first of the children, the last of them, the in-between and the father of them all, the mother and the grandparents were all but various faces of himself.

He was all of that, and the more he thought about who he was the more his anger receded, because philosophy was something no Sliver was good at, and for that their minds removed themselves, letting him come to his own terms and reasons.

It was a trick, one of the many he, whoever he was, had learned to keep a glimmer of himself within the brood. It had worked. The Overlord, the Queen, they paled in comparison to him, to the Legion. Even then, he had to be careful.

He could come back.

If he did, then things would be sour indeed.

They had been wiped out once. Only once had they lost all of their numbers, only once had their frenzy and mindless destruction taken their lives, from the first to the last of the born. This time, however, a Planeswalker was one of their Kin, and as long as he lived and breathed and was one of them, then they too were. This was the law of the Slivers, this was the law of the brood.

One is all and all are one.

He barely remembered what he had been so angry about, before. It probably wasn't anything important, and so he let it drop.

It was as he was making his way back home that something caught his attention.

That something had pink bright hair, and seemed in the middle of quietly moving along the already dark streets towards the park. Slive merely raised his gaze, meeting the puzzled one of an Anbu who was patching, perched from above a rooftop, said scene too.

Slive gave the Anbu a couple of hand-signals, meaning he'd keep a watch out for the girl, and the Anbu, nodding, left to go back to his patrol. The teenager followed in complete silence the young girl, who, while seeming distraught and scared, nevertheless kept walking forward, the park being her clear direction. As she reached it, she began to pace around the tree where she had been reading her book during the day, going as far as touching the ground and dirtying her hands while at it.

"It can't be…can't be gone…" she began to whimper sadly.

Slive rolled his eyes, before taking a couple of steps back, and then starting to literally stomp on the ground as he made his way towards the girl. He could have kept silent until reaching her, but a scream was the last thing he wanted so late at night. Furthermore, there were people who were trying to sleep, at least, somewhere.

The girl, whose green jade eyes had seemingly begun to fill up with tears, suddenly jerked her head to the origin of the noise, hurriedly standing back up.

"What are you doing out here at night?" Slive asked, getting down on one knee to reach the same eye level as the young girl.

"My book!" She muttered, "I lost it! And I came to look for it!"

"Oh! It's that one filled with pictures, right?" As he asked that, Sakura sheepishly nodded.

"Well, shouldn't you be at home, sleeping?" Slive queried back, only for the pink haired girl to shake her head.

"Nu-uh, I need my book! If I don't I can't tidy the room!"

"Tidy the room?" He queried, raising an eyebrow.

The girl merely nodded quickly.

"Yeah! Kaa-san says I need to tidy the room before going to bed. If it's not tidy she gets really angry!"

Slive chuckled, "I understand…but the book isn't here. It's…" The boy bit his tongue. This seemed like a really bad two-lines pedophile hook. He truly, truly, did not want to pass off as one. He already had Naruto to keep an eye on, having another kid following? That would just invite nasty rumors.

"Know what? If you come back tomorrow in the afternoon with your mother, I'll have it found by then." The girl lowered her gaze, her face scrunching up in deep thought.

"Promise?" She asked quickly.

"Promise." He replied with a slow and deliberate nod.

"Okay then! Bye bye Slive-san!" and with that strangely quick goodbye, the girl dashed off.

The Legion of Slivers sighed, staring at the sky, "This wasn't in the panels. Or in the anime episodes." He muttered.

"Live with it? I'm not living with it!" He muttered to the skittering mass of tendrils walking right next to him, the gems shining in the moonlight, "And I'm not mad! I'm speaking to myself."

"We are the synapses of thousands upon thousands of slivers, I'm pretty darn sure I'm legally authorized to speak to myself without being mad!" He added quietly, "And be quiet you!" He warned to a floating and bubbly Sliver, "I'm not in the mood for your jokes."

Muttering once more, Slive was gone, disappearing without even the twirling of leaves. Needless to say, a certain Uchiha prodigy was terribly, terribly perplexed by said events, having followed him instead of going outright back to his patrol.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, a half-angry and half-sad Naruto was mumbling about stupid jokes while trying to find his way back to his apartment. At first he had subconsciously moved along the familiar road to the orphanage, but he had managed to correct himself soon enough.

That was when he had begun to mumble about having ended up only Kami knew where, in the middle of the village, in downtown.

That didn't stop him from trying to retrace his steps, but coming short of it.

So, in the dark of the night, Naruto was mumbling to himself in order to avoid doing what every lost four year old would do: cry and call for his parents. Because he knew he had no parents that would answer, and he knew that he wouldn't be helped even if he did cry all the night.

So, as he kept on his walk and his mumbles, he didn't realize that had he actually cried, then one of the Anbus on patrol on the rooftops would have probably descended to help him. Instead, by keeping up a seemingly normal façade, he had unconsciously given the idea to those who could help him…that he knew where he was going.

Basil did reach him in time, though, before the trembling of the boy's lips became a full-out cry.

"Naruto." He whispered, "It's late and you should be home." He added.

Naruto looked with shock, his cerulean blue eyes teary and watery, at the form of Basil. He dashed over to him in less than an instant, using his hands to grab fistfuls of the boy's clothes.

It felt less like cloth and more like flesh, squishy and pulsing and warm, but to Naruto it didn't matter.

"You made Otou-san worried: he's going to be angry at you, you know?" Basil pointed out, as he gently patted the boy's hair, "You shouldn't have run away like that."

"I'm sorry," Naruto muttered.

"I know why you did it, but it doesn't excuse it," Basil added once more, "Heck, I ran away from home once too…my mother…let's just say she showed me some skeletons I didn't like, and then…I got hit by a Beholder's ray."

"I didn't understand half of it, Oniisan," Naruto chuckled grimly, "is Slive-Oniisan going to punish me?"

"I suppose I might not, if you promise not to do it again," Slive remarked, appearing out of thin air right behind the duo, startling Naruto.

"AH! Slive-Oniisan! That was…That was scary!" The boy whined, before flinching as Slive's hand made contact with his head, before he was pulled in a half-hug and half headlock.

"Don't you run away again, you heard me you brat?"

"Hai! I promise! I promise! Believe it!" He exclaimed, flailing his arms wildly. With a satisfied grunt, Slive moved the boy to his back, before giving a nod to Basil, who headed ahead.

"And we'll head home and go to be right away, right?" Slive added, "After brushing our teeth."

"Aw…fine," Naruto pouted.

"Good." The man added once more.

The night was still young, but at the present, everything was fine.

**Author's notes**

**Booyah. Another chapter's out.**

**Decided to go for a Naruto/Sakura pairing of fluff. Because it turned out like that. Btw, for those who read 'The Harsh Truth' I'm at 22K of words and still writing forward. (Why don't I upload and go for a 29****th**** chapter? Because I'm not like that! 28 I said and 28 it will be)**


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